Lakes and Dales 21. Day 6 Clitheroe.

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Day 6. Friday 2 July
41 miles 11.8 Ave. 690m ascent.

The last day or our riding with a little drama to add to our memories of a typical Dugdale tour.
First of all we went for breakfast at 8am only to find we should have previously booked a table and the next sitting was 9.30. After some irritable discussions we arranged for our money back and sped off along the cycleway through Lancaster to Glasson Dock where we had bacon/ egg buns and hot drinks ( eventually) out in the sun which had just arrived. I think we created chaos by arriving so early with such a big order. The kind cafe owner (Lantern O Lune) kindly let us use his toilet, even though we didn’t buy from him as he opened later. This was good PR for him as we actually call there quite often with the Clitheroe Bike Club. The next saga was when we were approaching Forton only to find the road closed. As ever, we proceeded to the obstruction only to find the road blocked by portacabins and a big gap with a new culvert being created. We eventually managed to cross a very tiny footbridge after removing our panniers and wheeling the bikes through on the rear wheel. Another disaster averted. We crossed the A6 and rode around to Scorton and since we were fed up of all this level road stuff we started our climbing towards the Trough of Bowland. The ascent started quite gently but soon we heard low gear crunching and heavy breathing from all but the two racing snakes ahead. A nice descent until we hit the gully with a nasty bend at the bottom, finding we had to change from top to bottom gear in one move and even a chain disengagement. Another descent giving the impression of the end of climbing was another misjudgment as the true Trough of Bowland beckoned after a steep rise to the main Lancaster road. The weather was absolutely glorious and the views were incredible of this wilderness on my doorstep. A light lunch was had in Dunsop Bridge at Puddleducks Cafe by the river with its many resident ducks waddling across the road as if they owned it. Just for Andrew’s sake we had a bit more climbing (ie. going up) to Cow Ark and our last descent to Chris and Dianne’s house for lovely cream teas to round off a great trip in weather you could not improve on. Thanks to everyone for a great holiday and you can now rest those weary legs until the next time. Bravo.

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